Life After
by Lore55
Summary: Her people had a belief about death. It said that when you finally reach the end of your life you are reborn into the Great Stories you knew in it. She was fairly sure she wasn't supposed to remember as much as she did. Then again she had been fairly sure that hair was not naturally pink. It seemed she was being proven wrong all over the place. SI, soul replacement. On hiatus.
1. Where one life ends, another begins

**Hey there, first story I'm publishing on here, hope you guys like it.  
**

**Story inspired by Darkpetal16's Sakura.  
**

**I don't own anything.**

* * *

The first time she woke up it had been disorienting, as it would have been for anyone in her situation. For a long time she had laid still, the familiar sights, sounds, and scents of a hospital invading her frighteningly dull sense as she stared upwards into light that should have been painfully bright. That had been the third clue that the body she was in was not her own.

The first had been the metal pole that, some time ago, had seen fit to stick itself through her abdomen and destroy several internal organs while the ceiling of the subways crumbled around her, earth shaking and people screaming.

The second had been the warm, welcoming light that had enveloped her as she stepped through the gates of the graveyard beside her brother, leaving behind a tomb stone engraved with her name and a crowd of weeping friends and family.

Off to her side the heart rate monitor called out the time of a pulse that should not have existed. The girl took a deep breath to test her lungs, extra oxygen pumped in through the breathing tubes that had been wrapped around her face.

Beats were counted in her mind and she tried to raise an arm. The mental order was obeyed, and a short, thin limb appeared in her vision. It was certainly not her own. For one it lacked the ink that had marked the inside of the forearms for most of her thirty one years. The small hand that responded when she told it to twist was without the lines that age brought, no longer tough with scars and callouses built out of years of work. The smooth, pale skin confirmed her suspicions and the girl closed her eyes. It would figure that this had happened to her.

She closed her eyes and breathed deeply, calming the immediate panic and fear for the future. She let her arm drop and slowly relaxed. She wasn't surprised, not really, not in the core of it. Her people had a belief that when they died and at last found their way to the afterlife they would be reborn into the stories of old and lived there instead.

It would appear that her new life started a few years in.

_Well, _She thought as the door opened_, let's see how much trouble I can cause._

* * *

When her people spoke of joining the Great Tales she doubted that those who did were supposed to remember so vividly all they knew of them from beforehand. One more abnormality to add to her ever growing list of them.

It might have helped if she hadn't near-feinted when she caught the green eyed reflection in the glasses of her doctor, but the discovery of who she now was had her head reeling in a very unpleasant manner. She hoped that it had just been the glasses playing tricks on her, but was well aware it might not have been.

The girl turned her head to the side, catching the reflection of a child in the screen of her monitors. A grimace appeared. She was right.

* * *

Parents were a foreign concept to the girl. Certainly she knew what they were, had had figures that mimicked them in her past life. She was even aware through old, faded memories that there had been a time, when she was very young, where she lived with her own. That had been long, long ago.

The couple that rushed into her room not five minutes after the doctors left were nothing like those distant figures she remembered, yet the warmth in their eyes was the exact same. The same as she had received from her adoptive family.

It made her heart hurt to remember that it wasn't directed at her, but at the daughter that she had taken the place of.

The man took one look at her and burst into tears, brown eyes hiding behind his sleeve as his wife completely bypasses him, appearing at the girls side with almost abnormal speed. There was a flurry of words bombarding her, questions to her health, her head. It was a relief that they were spoke in a language she actually understood or things might have been more difficult than she was sure that they were already going to be.

The sight of the two parents also put out any doubt that may have still been lingering the corners of her mind in regards to her current possession.

Against the doctors orders Catherine tried to sit up, wincing when the world around her spun into a blur and a dull throbbing made itself known on the side of her head. The woman slid forwards, wrapping an arm around her now-small shoulders and helping her to sit up. The world slowly slid back into focus, blurry outlines coming to clarity that was both lower in quality for her eyes and higher in visibility for the lighting, further messing up her mental perception.

"Sakura, are you alright?" the mother asked, hand still placed firmly between her daughters shoulder blades. She stared blankly for a moment before remembering that that was who she was now. Sakura.

Information was the first thing she would need to manage her current situation, what better way to get it than to ask?

"What happened?" the girl asked, reaching up to touch the painfully area behind her ear, above the Parietal and Temporal bones. It was far too sensitive to be undamaged, and bit of probing revealed there to be a series of stitches that crossed the suture. That kind of injury could be damaging for mental functions, hit hard enough it might be fatal. Is that why she was here and not a newborn, lacking in memory or motor functions? If so what had happened that would land a child, voice high and hair soft, in a hospital with that kind of damage?

From the pain in her head she was guessing concussion. From the concern being displayed and the doctor's surprise at her waking she guessed that it had had consciousness away for some time, at least a day.

"You don't remember?" the man asked, making his way to the girl, Sakura's, side. Her head shook and she immediately regretting the decision, paling as a sudden wave of vertigo hit. It was all she could do not to throw up.

"You fell," the blonde woman explained quietly, "You hit your head on a rock in the park. You've been asleep for three weeks."

Three weeks. That was how long it had taken them to excavate the fallen tunnels and retrieve her body, those of several others, and bury them in the quake churned earth. She wondered idly if Sakura's heart had stopped and that was what had drawn her to the new form.

Strong arms wrapped around her and the girl started, looking up to see the face of Sakura's father as he held her against his chest tentatively, as if one wrong move and she would break.

"We didn't know if you were going to wake up," he sniffed, and girl smiled, patting his arm in a gesture of comfort. She couldn't more much thanks to the various tubes and wires attached to her arms.

In child-like innocence she spoke. "I couldn't sleep forever," she told him. The parents smiled at her but it wasn't fooling her. She read their expressions better than any children could, recognizing the feelings that were poorly hidden, especially for people with the training she knew that they had. Fear, sadness, bitterness and relief all shone down at her.

A thought occurred as the girl remembered something about Sakura from her previous knowledge. "Uhm…" the two smiled when she made it clear she wished to speak.

"Yes dear?" the mother asked.

"What about school?"

The father started to laugh.

* * *

_"I would love to believe that when I die I will live again, that some thinking, feeling, remembering part of me will continue. But as much as I want to believe that, and despite the ancient and worldwide cultural traditions that assert an afterlife, I know of nothing to suggest that it is more than wishful thinking." _  
_ ― Carl Sagan, Billions &amp; Billions: Thoughts on Life and Death at the Brink of the Millennium _


	2. Preperations

**Second chapter up at last! **

**Still not in ownership of Naruto. **

**Feedback is appreciated.**

* * *

She really was too young for this shit.

She almost always was. Too young, that is. Too young to join the military, too young to have had so many accidents, too young to be without parents.

According to the news she was too young to die.

As she stared into unfamiliar green eyes she couldn't help but think that she was too young to deal with this.

A 23 year old woman looked into the mirror. 12 year old Sakura Haruno looked back out.

The woman contorted her face into a grimace, the too young face in the mirror mimicking her expression.

In her mind she was cursing her fate for all she was worth, wondering what deity she had managed to piss off to end up in such a situation. She twisted her face in different angles, trying to trick her reflection into revealing that it was false. There was no such luck, and at last she accepted her new place in the world as Sakura.

Perhaps she should have further questioned her situation, searched for hidden camera's or tried to pull out roots from her now-long hair, it just hadn't worked like that.

_Reality is only our own perception of the world around us. If my perception is that I'm somehow a ninja then I can't change that without possibly illusioning myself further. _

_And this is what I get for taking psychology._

A search of the room revealed the well-known red dress, which the girl quickly slipped into. She had never understood the logic of wearing a bright red dress as a ninja, but what could she do but go with it? She made a mental note to get more neutral gear later on, once she graduated. Near as she could tell she was close to graduation, though for what she knew it could be tomorrow or next month. All she could do was wait until the Hokage faces were painted and practice her techniques.

She had actually lucked out, with access to Sakura's memories as well as hers. All she needed to do was skim the material to remember what the pinkette had known before her apparent coma.

Her first day back in class had been an adventure, welcomed back by an abundant amount of concern on the part of one blond, and a more muted, antagonistic amount on another. It hadn't taken long to figure out the basic dynamics of the class, those that she hadn't already known.

Shikamaru, Naruto, Kiba, and Choji sat in the back of the class and got in trouble. Shino and Hinata sat in the front, quiet as church mice. She and Ino fought for the coveted seat next to Sasuke, who preferred to sit in a window seat in the middle row.

Except now she wasn't fighting with Ino and the blonde girl had the chair all to herself.

No, Sakura Haruno now sat between the Aburame and Hyuuga clan heirs, using their quiet to get her studying done. She had a lot to catch up on and a lot still to learn, and not near enough time for it all. She researched chakra, its pathways, how it was effected by outside forces and how it could affect things around it. She searched for information on history, techniques, and past events. The vigor with which she threw herself into her books was almost alarming.

She had caught the nearly concerned looks Ino had begun to throw her way.

It was almost a week since her return to class that Naruto was dragged in, tied up, and all were called up for the review of the graduation exam. It was a good thing there wasn't a written portion to the practice, as she wasn't sure she would be able to pass it.

She had practiced the clone, transformation, and switch out techniques in the time she wasn't reading and was relieved to find that even if she wasn't sure how to this body still remembered how to manipulate chakra, and her mind was quickly understanding as well.

They came easily, so well-practiced they were. All the others in the class passed just as easily. Everyone except Naruto, who got yelled at for his perverted jutsu. The transformation was ridiculous, truly, but, the girl had a hard time not laughing at it. It was simply so generic she couldn't help it.

Sakura returned to her seat between the quietest classmates she had and cracked her book open, eyes sliding to the pages. She had come to many ideas that she wanted to test, but first she had to make sure that they wouldn't end up killing her. For the second time.

The rest of the class passed the same as always, lectures that she only listened to with one ear and the boys getting yelled at. It wasn't until the end of class that Sakura put her book away and stood up, walking out with a mutter of thanks to Iruka, who watched her with worry. People had been doing that often, she was getting used to it.

The graduation test itself was coming up fast, and while she was sure she could pass it there was still a lot to be done.

* * *

After class was let out the next day Sakura went off searching for people. She had things needed doing, and now was the most opportune chance. The test had been announced for three days' time, which gave her a golden window of opportunity. Her first stop was with none other than the great, brooding avenger. She had little respect for him, at that moment, but her need to do this outweighed her personal feeling for the person he was at that moment.

The boy glanced up, a scowl on his face when she approached him, sitting on a pier that out looked a small pond. The girl ignored the look, stopping a few feet away. Taking a deep breathed she bowed low, long hair falling to obscure her face, but not her vision. Through strands of pink she saw surprise flicker in black eyes.

"I'm sorry," she blurted, and watched the surprise grow, "My behavior towards you hasn't always been the more respectful, or what I would like you to see of me. I hope that even if we never get to be anything more we can still be friends, eventually."

She straightened up and looked down at the boy, waiting for him to say something. His ever stoic face was broken with his confusion, and after a few minutes he nodded to show he understood what she was saying.

Taking that to be as good as she was going to get she spun on her heel and took off a swift march, bound for her next target. A blonde, this time.

* * *

When she opened the door to the flower shop and made her way to the front desk she was met by a familiar man, blue eyes staring down at her. Sakura, hesitated, one hand going behind her to grip the space just above her elbow in an age old habit of shyness.

"Sakura," Inoichi greeted her, "What can I help you with?"

For a moment she wondered how he had known she needed help, before remembering that the Yamanaka clan read people for a living.

"I was wondering if Ino was around? I need to talk to her. It's important…"

A voice called an old nickname, and insult, from off to her side and the pinkette turned to see the blonde girl standing there, holding a small bouquet of various flowers. Cornflower blue eyes met green and a frown appeared.

"What are you doing here, forehead?" she asked, and Sakura pursed her lips. Inoichi took that moment to make his escape.

"I came here because there's something I need to tell you," the girl explained, watching the former friend walk past her and start wrapping up the flowers. She took a quick lungful of air, finding these situations to be stressful. "I give up."

Ino nearly dropped the flowers on the floor.

There was a startled 'what?' and Sakura nodded, meeting Ino's eyes.

"We're almost kunoichi, which means putting our lives on the line and risking everything. I know it probably won't happen for a while, but when we get put in dangerous situations, if something were to happen to you…" blue eyes softened and Ino sighed, putting the bouquet down.

"I get it. So what, you're just giving up on Sasuke then?" Ino asked, preparing the flowers for what Sakura assumed to be a home delivery.

She nodded. "Yeah, you can have him if you still want him. I just want us to stop fighting over Sasuke when there are more important things in life."

"What's gotten into you?" Ino asked, giving her a very odd look. All Sakura could do was shrug.

"I figured some stuff out when I was asleep. I don't know, it just doesn't feel right…Can we be friends again?" she asked, hopefully.

A smile bloomed on Ino's face. "Sure. Now come help me with these!"

* * *

By the time she was finished talking to and catching up with Ino it was too late to go to her last stop, so she decided to put it off until there were no longer stars in the sky and she wasn't asleep on her feet. It was a good thing that she was, because then she could go straight to sleep and not have any time to think.

Thinking only lead to remembering all she had lost, an activity she did not feel like doing right then.

* * *

_There is no pain so great as the memory of joy in present grief._

_Aeschylus_


	3. Final Apology

**Third Chapter!  
**

**RyOuKaMaGI: I'm glad that you liked it! Thanks for reviewing, I appreciate your taking the time to do that!**

* * *

The next day the girl-who-was-now-Sakura bid her mildly concerned parents and went out into the new world, the ribbon in her hair replaced with a headband that marked her ninja. It was still disorienting and worrying for her to navigate the area, to even live after the earth quake had caused her death in the last life.

The village was, luckily, wide and open, with views of the sky and towering trees that were as much a part of the place as the houses, which looked relatively normal in comparison to where she used to be, and ranged to the odd, traditional appearance she had once only seen in pictures. The people were diverse in the sense of their hair and eyes but she had yet to meet anyone of a darker skin tone, which lead her to the conclusion that most of them lived in Kumo. Instead the village of foliage was filled with strangely colored hair and unusual eyes. From red to green, orange to blue, yellow to purple, all in an assortment of people with various occupation.

For all there were so many shinobi there were also many civilians that supported them, selling weapons, clothing, food, and lodging to the ninja that protected them.

All of this she noted as she walked, hands clasped behind her back and bow in her hair. Being twelve again was one of the weirdest experiences she had ever been a part of, and she got the feeling it would only get worse the more time she spent there.

On her way she spent some of the money her parents gave her every week, her allowance, on something to eat, picking up a double order and going on her way to the school. For the first time in forever there was a skip in her step. The first steps she needed to take to get to where she wanted to be had been taken, and there was only one more person she hand to apologize to before she moved on.

It was stressful, as she had never been very good at planning, but at least she had some idea of what she was doing, and if nothing else the things she was learning were more interesting than a lot of other studying she'd done in her life. Pre-life? Existence?

She could figure out the correct pronouns later, she decided as she walked into the academy and to the classroom she was supposed to meet the rest of the graduates at. She wasn't at all surprised to see Ino already there, as she had left earlier than intended and taken her sweet time getting there. She also wasn't surprised to see Naruto and Sasuke sitting next to each other, glaring in opposite directions while Tobio, a boy from one of the other classes, snickered in the row in front of them.

Sakura walked over, her bag swinging off of her shoulder and onto the seat next to Tobio, directly in front of the little blond.

"Morning Naruto, Sasuke, Ino," she greeted, leaning back against the desk. The others looked at her, both blonds smiling cheerfully.

"Hey, Sakura!" Naruto nearly chirped, perfectly chipper.

"Forehead, I thought you weren't going to show up," Ino teased, and Sakura smiled good naturedly.

"I couldn't leave my favorite flower girl to face the future alone could I, Ino-pig?" she joked. Sasuke had glanced at her, which was more acknowledgment than he usually gave, so it was all good. The girl looked up at the blond boy, her legs swinging as she sat fully on the desk.

"Hey, Naruto?"

He perked up at her addressing him, curiosity painting his face. "Yeah?"

"Can I talk to you after team assignments?" she asked, watching the light over take his expression.

"Sure!" he nearly shouted, "Where do you want to go? On a date or-"

"I just need to talk to you," she corrected, voice lilting with a laugh, "It's not a date, sorry. We probably won't have time for that kind of thing once we're officially ninja."

Naruto seemed to deflate, but only a little.

"Alright," he still agreed, and soon enough they were cut off by the entrance of Iruka. Team assignments went as the girl remembered them, and when her name was called with Sasuke's she smiled apologetically at Ino, who just waved it off. With their rivalry over the girl was immensely nicer. Naruto still questioned the decision and their teacher was still very, very late, which gave her the time she needed to talk to Naruto when they braked for lunch.

She lead the way to one of the benches outside, offering him the other serving of the fruit cups she's bought earlier. Naruto thanked her, and asked what she wanted to talk about, looking as sly as a twelve year old with baby fat on his cheeks could.

The girl leaned back on the bench, wondering how to start. Point blank she supposed would be best

"I've been mean to you," she held up her hand to keep him from interrupting, "I know I have, and it was wrong of me. You never did anything to deserve it, it wasn't fair to do that and just follow the adults example without questioning it. So what I'm saying is… I'm sorry. And I really want to be your friend."

She watched Naruto's face the entire time, and when it lit bright enough that the sun looked dull she felt both happy and guilty. Guilty because such a bright person had been treated to terribly and happy that he smiled like that because of her.

"We definitely be friends!" Naruto agreed quickly, causing her to laugh for the first time since she'd died.

"I'm glad," she told him, tearing the top off her fruit cup, "Now eat your lunch so we can go meet out teacher," she instructed, and the boy hurried to comply before he stopped, turning suddenly very pale. Sakura watched him, brows furrowing in concern before she sprinted off, shouting an apology with his hands over his butt.

For a second she could only stare, confused, before she remembered.

_Sour milk. _

Wincing in sympathy for her teammate the girl packed up, shouldering her bag and heading back inside. There she took a seat next to Sasuke and pulled out a medical text book, starting to read it before getting stuck. She had to pull out the matching dictionary and a piece of paper, simplifying and translating it as best she could. She was going to need a lot of help with this, unfortunately.

When Naruto came back he managed to last about ten minutes of quiet before his leg started shaking and his mouth started moving, leading to an argument with Sasuke that she had to break up with a chop to both their heads with two-inch thick book.

After that she ended up talking with Naruto, mostly speculating about their late sensei and talking about what he'd done to the Hokage heads.

"Well everyone would see what I did," he tried to defend when she brought it up.

"Yeah, and you'd get caught and screamed at. Do you like getting in trouble or something?" she asked, watching him pout and look away.

"No! But if they would pay attention to me," he waved his hands in gesture, "then I wouldn't do it!"

Sakura arched a brow. "So negative attention it better than no attention at all?" she asked.

Naruto paused, looking down and shrugging. "I guess."

Sakura almost hit herself for being so insensitive. "Still, the Hokage faces? I don't even know how you got up there," she continued before smoothly sliding something in, "You know, you look a lot like the Fourth."

Naruto looked up at her, surprised. "I do?"

"Yeah," she nodded, "Your eyes and hair, you look a lot like him, just different facial structures," she explained.

Sasuke snorted. "Isn't it kind of insulting to them to compare this looser to the Fourth Hokage?"

"What did you just sa-"

"Isn't it kind of stupid to insult someone over something so petty?" Sakura defended, startling both of them. The old on might have thought that avenger was the greatest thing since sliced bread, but this one was going to take him down a few pegs if she could.

Naruto's eyes caught the clock then and he groaned. "Where's our sensei?" he whined.

Sakura shrugged. "No idea. He'll have to be here soon right? You don't think he forgot us do you?"

"He's a jonin, he wouldn't," Sasuke tried to dismiss, though he too sounded unsure.

Naruto stood up and jogged to the front of the room. "Well for being late I'll make him regret it!" the boy decided, taking the chalk eraser from the front of the room and going to set it up on top of the door.

Sasuke snorted. "As if that'll work," he scoffed. Sakura hit him with her book again, causing the boy to hiss a yelp.

"You may be surprised," she predicted, drawing her legs up to cross.

Not five minutes after Naruto had taken his seat again did the door open, admitting one Kakashi Hatake. The eraser fell down, striking his already grey hair and raising a small cloud while Naruto cracked up. Sakura snickered quietly and Sasuke stared in disbelief.

Kakashi let the eraser fall down from his head, looking at the children before he spoke. "Hmmm. My first impression is… I hate you. Meet me on the roof," with a poof he was gone, leaving an outraged Naruto and an Irate Sasuke. Sakura just shook her head, stowing everything in her bag before standing up and stretching her arms above her head.

"Come on boy," she started the walk, "let's go see where this leads us.

* * *

"Never ruin an apology with an excuse." ― Benjamin Franklin


	4. Team 7

**Here we go again! **

**Thanks to; RyOuKaMaGI and Toshiharu, I appreciate your taking the time to review on this! It means the world to me. **

**Feedback is always welcome. **

**As always I own nothing.**

* * *

The group of children made their way up to the roof of the school, one grumbling, one brooding and one snapping a hair tie into place before they stepped into the sun. Their teacher was already there, sitting under a small awning in front of a semi-circular bench. It was clear that the kids were supposed to take those seats, and so they did, the girl sitting strategically between the two boys.

All faced the teacher and he closed and stowed his book, looking to the new students he had been given.

"Alright," he began, "Why don't we start by introducing yourselves?" he questioned, and the girl and the blond looked at each other.

"What do you mean?" the boy asked, looking away from the girl and back to the teacher.

"Well…" he drawled, "What you like, hate, your dreams and hobbies, something like that.

The girl raised a hand. "Can you give us an example?" she asked, something nearly sarcastic in her voice.

"Me?" he seemed vaguely surprised. "I'm Hatake Kakashi, I have no intention of telling you my likes and dislikes-"

"Except for the one that is us."

He frowned at the girl, who looked innocent, "-As for my dreams… well… I have a few hobbies." His eye crinkled up in a smile. "Your turn."

The blond grumbled before he went first. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto. I like cup ramen, but I really like Ramen at Ichiraku that Iruka-sensei gets me more. I dislike the three minutes it take to cook instant ramen. Hobby is eating and comparing ramen, and my dream," his voice lifted, "My dream is to become greater than all of the Hokage and make all of the villagers acknowledge and respect me!" He finished with a sun dimming grin.

Sakura looked over at him, smiling and sitting straight up. Her turn. "Okay, I'm Haruno Sakura. I like reading and I love my friends. I dislike enclosed spaces, long pipes and the dark. My dreams are to change the future and protect the people I care about. As for hobbies, they've been changing lately so I'll have to get back to you."

The teacher gestured to their silent third member and the two looked at him, one in boredom and the other in only mild interest. The boy looked completely disinterested, hands in a bridge under his nose.

"My name is Sasuke Uchiha. There are many things I hate and few things I like. My dream, no, my goal, is to restore my clan... and kill a certain man."

Sakura and Naruto stared at him before the girl spoke up. "I don't know how I didn't realize how many issues you have before."

* * *

After all was said and done the teacher had given them the instructions the girl had known had he would and she had bid farewell to the boys, going off to find a private place for her experiments.

Ever since she had begun to get used to using it she had begun seeing what kind of limits it had, what she could do with the near perfect control she had been blessed with. It had started as a way to occupy her mind and avoid the thoughts of her past, of what she was missing now, instead focusing all of her attention on the warm energy that wrapped around her veins.

Chakra was a strange thing really. It wasn't like blood, which seeped out at any tear in the skin, or nerves that a person could feel without having to try. It was equally as important to the workings of the human body, equally necessary to survive. It was also, she discovered, harder to locate. To find blood one must break skin, to find nerves one must only make contact with something else, be it the edge of a table or the wind.

With chakra you had to consciously seek it out, find the paths that looped through the body and draw the energy through the points that existed in the body. You couldn't just force it through any pore, you had to draw a thread of energy through the opening and into the air. From there it would burn off into the atmosphere, even while being molded into something new the energy was not solid.

Which was actually what she was testing.

It was a theory of hers that if chakra could be used to enhance or create things from raw energy then why couldn't it not be solidified with enough concentration on it, or at least used to make something solid without a nature transformation. That was somewhat similar to what happened when Naruto used the Rasengan, wasn't it? Instead of a change of nature it was a change in form, so she would do that as well, just not with a spiral.

No, she would make something still and solid, if it was possible. She hadn't found any books saying it wasn't, and if she was lucky it wouldn't blow up in her face. Literally.

So Sakura found a quiet place in her room and took a seat on the light pink of her bedspread, something she was still getting used to, and focused, calling the chakra to her hands. She had to be careful, seeing as she didn't have too much of it, and use it without overloading her system, which she had been informed was very dangerous, in some cases deadly.

The girl crossed her legs, focusing the power to her hands and watching a light blue glow encase her palms, barely visible. It was this she sent her mind to, concentrating on it and trying to will it into a different shape. For a moment it made to move before flickering out, snapping back inside her body.

The girl frowned and tried again, with much the same results. It was discouraging, but she would keep trying until she started to feel very, very tired, and hopefully get some progress made. Taking a deep breath she tried again.

_I will be a Green Lantern yet!_

* * *

A Green Lantern she would not be for a very long time, she knew the next morning. She had made no progress at all by the time the sun rose the next morning, though she was better at summoning the energy to her hands then. It just didn't like taking a single shape and stopping in movement. She could do some things, little tiny things like chakra strings, but those were shaky, thin and weak. Not what she was looking for.

This she sulked over quietly at the table the next morning, eating her cereal against her teachers instruction. She could remember this all very well, having re-watched the entire series several times, from start to finish until the very end.

She may have been mildly obsessed.

Mildly.

_Mildly_.

It was just something that she loved. She did it with other shows as well, though none so often for as long. So by then she had almost everything memorized. Which was definitely going to come in handy in the near future, she was positive.

"Are you ready to go?" Sakura's mother asked, snapping the girl out of her musings. Green eyes met a darker shade and the girl smile at the woman, starting to grow more comfortable with the role she had stepped into.

She nodded. "Yep! We've got a test today, and hopefully it'll be easy," she reported, knowing that it would more than likely be a pain in the ass. In fact, it would be a pain without a doubt. She was not looking forwards to it. Hopefully she would be able to get the boys to cooperate with her.

"I'm sure you'll be great," Sakura's father stated, ruffling her hair in passing.

The girl ducked her head, whining in complaint. "Not my hair," she cried, swatting at him in passing. The man laughed and went to get his coffee. It happened again, as it always seemed to do. 'It' being the painful grip on her heart when on of the parents showed affection towards her. It wasn't towards her. It was towards Sakura. The girl who's life she had stolen away. The life that wasn't hers.

The girl shook her head. "I'm going!" she exclaimed suddenly, standing up. The parents looked at her in surprise and Sakura grabbed her head band off the table, tying it into place and rushing out of the house before she had more time to dwell on the past.

It would do more harm than good in this case, and she really didn't have time to focus on it. She had too much to do.

The girl entered the street, angling her feet towards the training grounds as she had been instructed to, a bag of supplies hanging from her shoulder. She would ask her parents for another or a bigger pouch that would attach to her hips. In fact she needed to ask for new clothes period. The dress was nice, and she liked the design, but maybe something darker, or with pants. Leggings at least. Aside from that she had little to complain about. Next to nothing in fact. Perfect skin, nice hair, bright eyes. Really, Sakura Haruno was a very pretty girl, and would no doubt be a very pretty woman later on.

The boys were already there, Sasuke going through his forms and Naruto sitting on the ground, looking miserable. Sakura realized that they had probably listened to Kakashi's advice, and hand to laugh under her breath at them. It was common knowledge that you couldn't function without food, and Kakashi was cruel enough to trick a couple of twelve year old's into skipping breakfast. What a mean teacher.

"Hey, Naruto!" Sakura called, waving her hand above her head and gaining their attention, "Sasuke!"

* * *

Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment. - Buddha


	5. Bells

**Next chapter is up at last! **

**Sabie0521: I hope that this lives up to your hopes! Thanks for reviewing.**

* * *

It had taken much longer than she's first expected for Kakashi to appear. Even with his reputation for being late to anything and everything she'd thought he would be there within two hours.

She had been proven wrong.

After the first half an hour had passed she had separated herself from the boy, going off to try and do as she had been the night before. Strings were a place to start. Strings could be woven together to form something stronger and thicker. That was what was worked on. Make five strings, attach them to the ground, and make five more before weaving them together like a rug. It required a lot of concentration and it fell apart pretty quickly. She couldn't hold it for long before she had to let it go, but it was better than how it had been before. It made it spread out and thicken, making it harder and more widely spread.

It was far from perfect, but it was a start and it did kill the two hours it took for Kakashi to puff into existence.

Naruto, who had been sulking to himself under a tree, jumped up from the ground, pointing dramatically to the jonin and giving a shout.

"You're late!" he accused.

"And you're loud," Sakura informed him as she stood up, brushing off her red battle dress. Naruto gave her a look akin to a kicked puppy so she patted his head in apology once she'd reached the boys.

"What's out activity sensei?" she asked, looking up at the silver haired man.

Kakashi reached into his pocket, fishing out a pair of bells and holding them up from the children to see. As he explained the rules Sakura turned her eyes on the boys, watching the shock of Naruto and the calculating glare of Sasuke. They were both stubborn, and hated each other, so chances were she wouldn't be able to get them to work together. That was fine, she knew how to pass them all in the worst case scenario. So long as she tried to get them to work together it would be something right?

"So, get the bells before lunch?" she parroted once Kakashi was done, her hand catching the back of Naruto's jump suit when he tried to leap forwards.

"Sakura!" he whined.

Kakashi's eye curled in a smile. "That's right. You're time starts… now."

She let go and jumped back into a tree, leaving Naruto to stand alone in the clearing. The girl glanced back to see that, as predicted, Naruto had gone in for a direct confrontation. Sakura jumped from the tree and hit the ground, running off into the woods to find a place to set up a few traps. She needed to make it look like she was trying.

A few minutes after she had tied up the final wire she found that her surroundings were starting to grow dark. In confusion she looked around, turning this way and that. The color of the trees was getting dimmer, as was the grass and the sky. Shadows seemed to grow longer and for a brief second fear latched onto her heart and squeezed.

The girl took in a deep breath, reminding herself of the second lesson Kakashi had employed; genjutsu. And how did one break that? Chakra surge or chakra cut off.

Sakura brought her hands up in front of her, closing her eyes and ignoring the feeling that walls were closing in on her. She made the common hand seal and forced the chakra pumping through her system to stop. It took a moment for it to work completely, breaking the spell when she was successful.

Green eyes cracked open and the girl almost sagged with relief when the world was bright once more. She decided then that she didn't like Genjutsu very much. A look around told her that none of her traps had been tripped, not that she'd expected anything else.

_Okay. Time to find the boys._

* * *

Naruto was hanging upside down from a tree and Sasuke was shoulder deep in dirt. Taking note of who would be the easiest to get down Sakura approached the swinging blond. He caught sight of her and started waving his arms around, shouting her name as though she wasn't already walking straight at him. The girl shushed him quickly, looking around. He tilted his head as if he couldn't understand why.

"What are you doing?" he questioned. She gave him a look that said that the question was stupid.

"I'm making sure that Kakashi-sensei isn't around here. He might be waiting for one of us to try and get you down," she explained. The girl pulled out a kunai, lining up and letting it fly. It sliced through the rope that held Naruto up, sending him crashing to the ground.

"Thank yo-" Naruto was cut off when she clamped a hand over his mouth.

"Shush!" she hissed, "are you trying to give away our position?"

Naruto shook his head rapidly, eyes wide. Only then did Sakura let her hand drop.

"When you pull a prank do you let who ever the target is know that you're there, or do you keep quiet?" she asked. Naruto gave her a funny look, like she'd just asked something simple.

"I don't want them to know I'm there until I'm done," he told her. The pink haired girl nodded.

"Right. Same principal applies here. Kakashi-sensei is a high ranking ninja, years out of our league. The only way that we can get the bells is if we do it quietly, sneak up on him and do it then."

She didn't mention they would probably still fail.

It took her a second to realize that Naruto was staring at her wide eyed. A slim brow rose. "Uh, yes?" she asked, looking behind her to make sure Kakashi wasn't around with a bloody Sasuke illusion.

"We?" Naruto asked.

Sakura looked back at him, nodding slowly. "Yeah. You, me and Sasuke. We're a team. There's no way to beat Kakashi on our own, he's too strong. That's why we were put into teams in the first place, so that we could make up for each other's strengths and weaknesses."

At the mention of Sasuke Naruto's face twisted in open distain. "Why do I have to work with him?" he asked, practically growling.

Sakura sighed. "Because, he's better at direct fighting than either one of us. I know things, and have good chakra control, but hand to hand I'm mediocre at best. You're good at setting things up, traps are only a hop, skip and a jump away from pranks, and you have more stamina than either one of us combined. We each do things that the other can't, a balancing act of three."

"But there's only two bells," Naruto pointed out. Sakura nodded.

"Yes. And our mission is to get those bells. We get the bells first, then we can figure out who keeps them. If we don't act as one then we'll all fail. Okay?"

Grudgingly the blond nodded.

"Okay. Now we've just got to dig Sasuke up and we can figure out what to do next."

* * *

"I'm not working with you losers."

And then he stormed off.

* * *

"Okay, you know the plan?"

Naruto nodded, a grin stretched across his face.

* * *

"Hey!"

Dark eyes glanced up from a little orange book to see more orange. A little blond boy stood in front of him. Behind and a little ways back was the only girl on the team.

"I'm gonna kick your ass this time!" the boy proclaimed, bringing his hands together. Had he not been Kakashi his eyes may have widened at the sight of the veritable ocean of orange clad shadow clones that appeared before him. As it was he was only mildly surprised. The man sighed, going back to his book while the crowd rushed him. With only minimal effort he took out shadow clone after shadow clone, keeping an 'eye' on the pink haired girl that was running around the clearing and into the trees. Her stealth could use some work, he noted.

Three clones at once lunged for the bells, all we dispelled with a single kick. Smoke was thick around him, making it hard to see clearly.

Idly he wondered if the little Uchiha boy was going to try to do anything while Naruto was trying to fight him. He'd made it clear he wouldn't work with the other two when they'd tried to recruit him, and ended up buried in even harder packed dirt than he had been before a few minutes earlier.

A jingle on his side informed him that a clone had gotten close enough to touch the bells. The clone was quickly dispelled and Kakashi noticed something.

He had some sneaky kids.

The last of the shadow clones was, leaving Kakashi surrounded by clouds of smoke. Reflexes had him side stepping as Sasuke went flying through it, clipping the bells hanging from his hip. There was a puff of smoke and the bells disappeared.

Sasuke's eyes grew wide.

A laugh drew both his and Kakashi's attention off to the side where Sakura and Naruto stood, the girl holding up two bells proudly.

"Well, looks like you're the only one that failed, Sasuke," Kakash informed his stunned student.

"There's no way they did that!" Sasuke objected, "There has to be some kind of trick. Those two losers-"

"Passed the test," Sakura interrupted.

"How?" Sasuke demanded.

Sakura held one of the bells up before dropping it. It didn't go all the way, stopping half way to the ground and hanging there via a thin line of blue energy.

"Chakra strings," she explained, "While Naruto distracted sensei I transformed into one of his clones so I could get close enough to attach one to each of the bells. One of Naruto's clones went around the trees setting up traps so it would look like I was busy and not right there. When sensei was kicking the clones' asses I set everything up and waited until he didn't expect anything new to happen. I had two of Naruto's clones turn into two bells and switched them up."

"It was Sakura's idea," Naruto told them.

"It wouldn't have worked if it was just me," Sakura dismissed. "That's what a team is for. It's like… thread."

"Thread?" Sasuke repeated.

Sakura seemed to realize that she's lost him, back tracking. "If you have only one thread it's weak and easily pulled apart or cut, but if you add more and spin them then the small strength of each individual thread adds up until you have something stronger. Like a rope. That's what teams are for. An individual is weak. It has been said 'Unity is strength. When there is teamwork and collaboration, wonderful things can be achieved.'"

"She's right," Kakashi told them. "Well Sasuke, looks like you're going back to the academy."

"Actually," Sakura interrupted, "He's not."

The others looked at her, surprised.

"I didn't know you were the teacher here," Kakashi drawled.

"I'm not," Sakura agreed, "But I have the bells. So I decide who gets them. One of them goes to Sasuke."

Naruto's mouth opened and betrayal crossed his face.

"Sakura!" he shouted, "I thought we were friends!"

A hand struck his chest, palm flat. "We are," the girl stated, "The other bell is yours."

The betrayal drained into shock and then confusion, mirrored to a lesser degree by the Uchiha. "But, what about you?"

Her shoulders lifted. "You guys are my teammates. You come before I do. I can wait another year to graduate. I don't mind."

The lie was clear to all.

"Well in that case," Kakashi spoke to loud to be interrupted, as these children had a habit of doing, "You all pass."

Three children looked up at him, confusion twisting their faces. There was about three seconds of confused silence before a loud "What?" broke the air.

* * *

"How did your test go?" Mebuki asked her daughter at dinner that night.

Sakura looked at her from where she'd been focusing on her food, a smile crossing her face. "It went well. It was pretty hard but we passed it okay. Kakashi-sensei is weird."

"Kakashi? I've heard he can be eccentric," Kizashi commented from the other side of the table.

"That's one word for it," Sakura grumbled.

"Well, what ever he's like I'm sure you'll do well under him. We're proud that you've gotten this far."

That appeared to be the wrong thing to say. Some of the light dimmed in the girl bright eyes and her smile turned brittle. Had she not been her mother she might not have noticed.

Sakura had been acting strange ever since she'd hit her head. They had talked to the doctor and he had warned them that head injuries sometimes affected personalities. It seemed to be true for their daughter. She hadn't gone off about Ino or Sasuke or anything like that in weeks. She had grown quiet, withdrawn even Before she had graduated Umino Iruka had come to their home to ask if they knew if something was bothering her.

Mebuki didn't know what was bothering her daughter. Whatever it was it was starting to bother her as well.

"I'm going to go to my room, "Sakura announced, standing up and collecting her dishes.

"Alright," the blonde agreed, "Tell us if you need anything."

Sakura's smile looked real enough…

"Thanks. I will."

As she was walking away the woman called out.

"I love you!"

And watched her daughters steps falter. The answering 'love you too' sounded cracked and false.

Mebuki's heart constricted.

What was happening to her daughter?

* * *

_We're a team. It's part of our job to help each other out, and to forgive each other quickly. Otherwise, we'd never get anything done."― Jeramey Kraatz, Villains Rising_


	6. Stalking, Training and Other Activities

**Here we go! New chapter is up.**

**I own nothing. **

**Reviews;**

**Yuuki no Yuki: Thanks, I'm glad you think so. Her experimenting is definitely going to come into play, I'm not sure if it'll be an actual new technique but… I do like Green Lanterns, if that's any sort of hint. **

**Sabie0521: Sakura is definitely a smart person, I figured it would be ridiculous to go with the same way it was in canon.**

**ShugoYuuki123: Yeah, Mebuki really is worried about her daughter. **

**Guest from Jan. 22: I'm gonna keep writing. **

**CeresMaria: I never really understood why people just dismiss or ignore everyone that characters have been close to. They'd have to notice that she's acting differently.**

* * *

Sakura was sure that she had never been so bored in her life.

Not when she was a child and she was left to sit in the dark, mulling over the fate that belonged to her and wondering where next she would find the bare necessities of survival.

Not when she was in the USAFA, grounded for a sprained wrist.

Not when she was floating around behind her brother, watching them lower her casket into the ground.

No, never had she been more bored than she was sitting in a tree, watching a man sort through papers and yell at people through a third story office window.

Naruto and Sasuke were off doing something with Kakashi while she watched their target, a man suspected of cheating on his wife. Sakura had been stuck with the first shift and so far the most interesting thing to happen was when the guy had had lunch and picked all of the meat out of the bento box.

She couldn't even read, she had to keep focused on the stake out.

It was infuriating.

She was going to scream if she had to keep sitting there doing nothing.

A butterfly floated into her line of vision and Sakura tilted her head, an idea forming. She created tiny, hair thin chakra strings and attached them to the little things wing. The insect froze in the air, body jerking with the wings stopped. To get the creature to stop struggling she attached one to its actual body and, with the sadistic joy of a car, began to play with it.

* * *

When Naruto came to relieve her of stalker duty the girl yanked him into a hug with her relief. His shocked expression had her snickering quietly as she jumped out of the tree, hitting the street and nearly skipping away from the dull duty she had left behind.

Naruto watched her go, feeling warm and upbeat as he took her seat in the tree, turning his bright blue eyes to the target.

His hand brushed a torn butterfly wing.

* * *

When Kizashi found him Kakashi couldn't say he was surprised. Sakura was the only member on their team that had parents, the only one not from a major clan. It was unsurprising that he might come to talk to the jonin, given who all was on the team and what their reputations were.

"Hatake," he greeted, looking at the little orange book with a good deal of distaste, "I would like to talk to you about my daughter."

Kakashi bit back a sigh and tucked his wonderful novel away.

He should have seen this coming.

* * *

"Sakura!"

The shout drew green eyes from the pages of the anatomy book she'd been reading, finding blue eyes, blonde hair and a pair of sullen boys trailing behind the one and only Ino Yamanaka.

A smile graced her features.

"Hey, how's it going?" she asked, snapping her book shut and holding her free arm open for a hung.

Ino gave her one without objection before she bounced away, irritation crossing her pretty features.

"These two," she jerked her thumb over her shoulder, "Are insisting that we go get barbeque, even though there's so much fat in it."

Choji twitched.

Sakura ignored it.

"You know Ino, fat isn't actually evil."

Ino gave her a funny look. "Aren't you on a diet?"

Sakura shook her head. "No way, not anymore. I've been reading," she held up her book as proof, "and for us, people who work a lot and are going to be fighting and stuff, we actually need more calories and carbs than civilians just so we can function. So long as we burn them off by working out then there's no chance at all of gaining weight, even though it would be safer if we did. Did you know that when humans start starving it's the fat reserves that keep them alive? Or that one of the biggest factors in ninja death on long term missions is malnutrition?"

"So I shouldn't diet?" Ino tried to clarify.

Sakura nodded firmly. "Yeah, dieting could kill you."

The blonde looked distinctly pale.

"Choji," she began, "Where was that barbeque place?"

* * *

Sakura took the first shaky steps out onto the pond, her arms outstretched and her balance precarious as she focused. She had mastered tree climbing when she had first arrived and only now had enough time to work out the specifics of water walking. She was busy, working out basic techniques and skills. She had begun changing her chakra to that of medical and was working on more difficult control refining techniques. This one was just the latest in a long line of them.

As well as chakra working she had also taken to training her new body in the same form of hand to hand she'd learned during her time in the American Air Force.

It was ironic actually, she had expected that if she was ever going to die it was going to be some kind of plane crash. Instead it had happened after her time in the armed forces, forty feet under the concrete jungle while the earth shook.

The impalement was unexpected too.

Water rushing into her mouth alerted her to her distraction and the girl thrashed, coughing up water and breaking through the surface of the pond.

Lesson learned.

Don't space while walking on water.

* * *

Weeks passed with only D-ranked missions, most of them being those of gardening or watching brats run amok in their houses. Sakura was apparently no where near being good with kids, and so left that to Naruto, who was so incompetent it ended up being put on Sasuke.

Who should never, ever be left alone with a child.

Steadily the three began to reach the end of their ropes. Patience waned in the Uchiha, visible in the tricks of his eye and the snappish behavior aimed at his teammates.

It dwindled in the Uzumaki, as shown by his very vocal complaints.

Haruno was hardest to tell but her vicious tearing at the grass made it all clear.

Kakashi found the entire thing hilarious. You couldn't tell from where he hid behind his mask and book but he was laughing at his poor genin. He hadn't been on a D-rank in well over a decade so it was all very pointless to him. He was in no hurry to get the kids moving forwards in mission ranks.

The choice was taken out of his hands when Naruto, at last, blew up at the Hokage.

During the entire fiasco he watched dread creep into his only female students face.

* * *

_We have a pretty tough schedule coming up. We have to stay strong mentally and must focus on getting better. -Tony Parker_


	7. Bring on the Waves

**Still owning nada. Chapter 7.**

**CeresMaria: I think that it's important to remember that there are going to be people who notice the sudden swap in personality. Sakura at least has an excuse from the head injury. The conversation between Kizashi and Kakashi was mostly just one of those 'this is my daughter if you let her get hurt I'll kill you' and such. I'll go into more detail about what it was this chapter. **

**Vaughn Tyler: Thank you!**

**UnsightlyDreams: That means so much to me, thank you. I liked Sakura by the other author but it was still very cheerful and lighthearted. I don't particularly like character bashing, even when I'm not a fan of that character, mostly because it focuses on little problems or is over used instead of pointing out major problems with the characters. **

**In regards to beta's, I think I'm getting one soon? I was given an offer recently so I'll probably have a beta within a few weeks!**

**Nitramy: I have, as a matter of fact. **

**Sabie0521: I feel weird still putting the wave arc, if only because it's something that you always see in these. I don't know how much Sakura is going to be able to change, largely because I'm trying to avoid making it Mary-Sue like. **

**MerhppDerhpp: I think one of the reasons that they forget is because it was only recently revealed their names and how they look, and aside from that one comment she made at the very beginning of the series they're never mentioned again. Ah, Soul Eater, such a wonderful anime. **

**Marie: He really should, someone should, but her head injury was cleared so unless she starts laughing maniacally there's no real reason for him to do so.**

* * *

Breakfast was bigger than anything Sakura had been given for her entire life. After life. Both, really. Light green eyes locked on the spread across the table, her mouth opened in a startled 'O'. The girl looked back up at the couple at the table, who were sitting across from her. Kizashi and Mebuki were smiling at her, pride glowing in their eyes.

It hurt to see, it hurt so badly.

But she pasted a smile on her face and thanked them.

"What's this for though?" she questioned, loading up a plate.

"This is your first C-rank mission. We want you to have a good breakfast so you've got the energy to see the world!" Kizashi cheered.

Mebuki hit her husband's shoulder. "She's going to Wave not travelling the globe. Honestly, you're so dramatic," she scolded. It was easy to see where the original Sakura got her attitude from.

The girl shook her head, smiling fondly at her parents. "Thanks. I don't think I can eat all of it though. Can I take some to my team?"

"Of course you can," Mebuki assured her. Sakura ducked her head in thanks again and dug in, mind whirling with what she would do.

* * *

The road was empty of all but the group of five ninja that trod along, remaining mostly quiet except for the occasional fight breaking out between the old man and the small blond child. These were mostly settled by the pink haired girl who walked between them, or the white haired man who never looked up from his book.

It was a typical trip, nothing unusual about it.

Unfortunately this was Team 7, and Kakashi knew well that nothing ever seemed to go right with them. When Sakura bumped his arm and made a pointed look to the puddle he'd just been thinking of he was only proven right, as at that precise moment the trap was sprung. Chains shot out, cutting right through 'his' body. Sakura gave a startle shout, alerting the others.

The assailants, two chunin(if that) from the mist darted towards his students. Sakura put herself in front of the client while Sasuke engaged another and Naruto, well, Naruto just stood there stunned. He might even have been cut up if Sakura didn't yank him to the side with Chakra string and Sasuke hadn't dropped from above at him. But now the other was going after his female student, who was armed with kunai and seemed to be perfectly calm, except for the tightening of her jaw muscles, and he made his entrance.

He clothes-lined one of them, the Demon Brothers if the bingo book was to be believed. The other he caught by the back of shirt, startling his three students and their frightened client.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto shouted, staring wide eyed up at him. He heard Sakura's breath of relief, saw Sasuke's startled look and felt their client waver in a near faint. Maybe that had been a bit mean but he needed to see what his kids would do in an actual fight.

Aside from Naruto's freezing up it hadn't gone very badly.

"Did you have to do that?" Sakura questioned, glowering at his back. He looked at her over his shoulder, eye crinkled in a smile.

"I thought it was important for you kids to do it on your own," he explained.

Sakura's scowl increased and her father's words echoed in Kakashi's head.

"_I don't care how many jutsu you've copied or how great of a ninja you are, my daughter better be safe under your leadership or so help me you'll lose a few limbs!"_

Kakashi almost, almost shivered. Kizashi had once been on the short list of Hokage candidates, and his threat was nothing to sniff at.

"You were all safe," he insisted. She didn't seem to care, turning her attention to her teammates while Kakashi set about tying up their new captives. He needed to have a talk with their client…

* * *

"Are you guys hurt?"

Black and blue eyes met green when Sakura asked the question, coming to a stop in front of her friends. She seemed almost _eager_ for one of them to answer.

"Uh, no?" Naruto offered, unnerved by the fall of her face.

"Damn, and I really need a guinea pig," he complained.

Naruto tilted his head. "What?"

Sakura started gesturing with her hands. "A guinea pig, someone to test something one. In this case I've been learning medical ninjutsu, or trying to, but so far I haven't been around anyone when they get hurt, and I'm too much of a wimp to open my own skin."

Grimaced. That sounded gross. "Medical ninjutsu?" he asked. He'd heard of that before…

"Healing," she clarified. "I'm going to be a medic nin, one of the best," she said it with as much confidence as he said he would be Hokage.

The blond boy grinned widely. "You'll be a great medic!" he declaired, sure of it. Sakura was totally smart enough for it. Healing? Could he do that? With the fox, maybe not. The thought sobered him some, until Sakura's shoulder bumped his and she looped an arm with him, offering her other to Sasuke, who rejected it, the jerk.

Bright eyes widened in surprise and Sakura smiled at him cheerfully. "I'm glad you think so. Now, let's go, Kakashi-sensei looks like he had something to say."

"How can you tell? His face is completely covered!"

* * *

"We can't give up now!" Sakura wasn't at all surprised when Naruto shouted at Kakashi. The jonin looked totally non-plussed, single eye lazily looking Naruto over.

"This mission is far out of your league," he explained, "We have to go back. As of now it's considered a B-rank."

"Even if that is true," Sakura started, "we can't just not go with him. He may have violated the contract but what does it say about our village that we chicken out when things get a little difficult? What does that say about _us_? I don't know about you, but I don't like backing down."

It was probably stupid, suicidal even to keep going on the mission she had been so trepidatious towards only a few says ago, but Naruto needed to see that the ninja world, that the world in general, was not as glorious as he thought. Surely someone who was viewed as lowly as he already knew this? Why would he of all people need a reality check?

Honestly, not much made sense.

Kakashi gave a deep sigh, one of defeat before he stood up. "We'll take him the rest of the way to his country," he decided, turning them to the road once more.

Sakura let out a breath, looking back at the brothers tied to a tree. Zabuza was next.

_Please let this turn out alright._

* * *

A boat ride and a guilt trip later they had arrived in the Land of Waves. It was foggy, and there were still a lot of trees on all sides, offering limited visibility and a good many hiding places.

Shivers continuously ran up and down Sakura's back as she walked, now crabbing across from Naruto as she tried to teach him Chakra String Cats' Cradle.

He wasn't very good.

At all.

Sakura was also regretting not changing her outfit before they left. It was freezing in a skirt and short sleeves. She had been colder, sure, anyone from Maine would have been but _damn_. This body was much more adjusted to the warmth than the cold.

There was a rustle from the nearby bushes and, apparently still feeling upset at being useless in the last fight, Naruto threw a barrage of metal at the poor, innocent foliage. When the group approached it was revealed that the foliage was also accompanied by a poor, innocent rabbit.

Sakura cocked her head to the side. "Why is a white rabbit out here in the middle of not-winter?" she questioned, watching Naruto smother the poor thing as badly as Tora was by the Daimyo's wife. "Also, can we eat that?"

"A white rabbit in the middle of summer?" Tazuna questioned, looking over her shoulder at it. Sakura stepped to the side, hating it when people did that.

"Not normally. Not natural actually, that thing should be brown. Unless it's albino?" she pretended to speculate, "Are its eyes red?"

In reality she was waiting for Kakashi's warning, muscles tensing under the red fabric of her dress.

The jonin's voice rang out and Sakura spun, tackling Tazuna to the ground as the butchers-knife-from-hell whirled over their head like a demented boomerang, embedding itself in the thick trunk of a nearby tree. The girl rolled off the client, moving to pull her hair back while her eyes rose to see Zabuza standing atop the blade.

Everything was happening just as she remembered it.

The girl flipped a kunai into her hand, sliding her feet into 'Ready Position 1'. When Naruto tried to lung he found himself yanking against a line of energy attached to the back of his jacket.

"Sakura!" he complained aloud. The girl shook her head, eyes darting around for others, for Haku. She saw nothing.

"Don't be hasty. Remember what we had to do with Kakashi-sensei? This guy is also way stronger. You can tell just by looking at him. So chill out, and think," she instructed, tugging Naruto back.

"So," Zabuza's voice rang out, "They sent Kakashi of the Sharingan and bunch of brats? Sorry, but I need you to hand the old man over."

_He doesn't sound that sorry_, Sakura thought bitterly. Beside her, Sasuke tensed.

"Formation B," Kakashi ordered, and the children complied, each drawing their blades and mostly surrounding Zabuza. It wasn't a very sound formation as far as Sakura was concerned. In fact formations themselves were usually not overly useful once the first shot was fired.

She couldn't see from where she stood but the girl knew that when Kakashi pulled his head band up it revealed his gifted sharingan.

While the mist thickened and the adults talked Sakura focused on laying out chakra strings around them, hair thin and steel strong. The fog obscured their vision and a pressure started pushing down on her chest. She ignored the ghost of fear, stepping back and leaning to the side.

"Naruto," she hissed.

There was no response. No sound at all.

"Sasuke?" she looked over he shoulders briefly, finding both boys frozen up, Sasuke's hand's shaking. They were… afraid?

That's right. This was their first near death experience. The girl forgot some times that not everyone had been where she had.

_Survival is everything. Fear is pointless. _

The old manta echoed in her head, filling her bones and pushing the heaviness of Zabuza's desire to kill them away. She was fine.

_I'm always fine. _

There was a sudden burst of chakra, sending the mist flying out in all directions and destroying the covering.

Kakashi looked back at them, his eyes closed in his smile.

"Don't worry so much. I'll won't let my comrades die."

Her respect for the man grew.

Of course when Zabuza appeared behind them without any sound but his voice it grew for him too, though for different reasons.

Sakura spun, yanking the chakra strings up and catching his sword before it could go down, her leg lashing out in a kick aimed for his shin. Sadly her chakra strings were weaker than Zabuza was and, after behind held for a total of 3.2 seconds he shredded them.

Sakura cursed, jumping back just as a kunai pressed against Zabuza's throat.

She watched a paradox play out, glad she knew what was going on instead of being totally confused. Which she certainly would have been if she wasn't, well, her.

Yet more curses flew from her mouth when Kakashi was thrown back by Zabuza's kick, skipping into the water nearby. Even though she had known that it was going to happen she was still ticked that Kakashi had managed to get caught like that. It put the rest of them at risk and not only was this body weak but her two teammates were miles better but at just as big of a disadvantage.

In short, they were screwed.

In long, she was going to do something stupid.

She didn't even listen as her teacher gave them all a history lesson, mind whirling a million miles a minutes.

_He's bigger and stronger, what do you do?_

_Run, hide, give him something aside from you to focus on._

_Out of the question. Have to fight. Might die. Next possible course of action?_

_Traps. Ambush._

Sasuke rushed forwards like a fool, getting his ass soundly beaten by their opponent, who turned his attention on them.

_No time._

_Head on fighting is foolish, even with more numbers. Three mice cannot kill a bear. _

_But a mountain lion might be able to. Plan stays the same. Free Kakashi. _

_Enact. _

Sakura darted forwards with Naruto, ignoring Kakashi's orders to flee. They would be hunted down and murdered. They would die.

While the blond attacked with clones she skidded on the ground next to Sasuke, looking him over.

There was a broken rib for sure. No apparent internal bleeding, nothing major at least. Lots of pain, not a lot of damage.

_But why? _

Zabuza could have killed him easy, it didn't make sense.

_When you corner prey you kill it. Only cats and people play with their food. _

It appeared that the Demon of the Mist was all too human. Cruel, sadistic, looking for a challenge.

The girl couldn't heal bones yet, only scrapes, bruises and cuts. So there was no need for her to be there. She helped Sasuke up, eyes steady on her new target.

"Damn it," Sasuke hissed.

When Naruto was sent skipping to them she pulled him up too. Zabuza stayed where he was taunting them. The arms she had her hands on were shaking.

Failure was not an option. The girl let the boys go, pulling out a smoke pallet, a litter of them actually, and throwing them around the ground. With a flare of chakra they burst, hiding the children from their enemy as she hissed out a plan that Naruto had originally come up with, with a few tweaks to make sure it succeeded.

The trio moved when the smoked lifted, Sakura rushing back towards their client and taking a place in front of him while Sasuke launched himself into the air, over sides shuriken appearing in his hands. He spun, sending them flying to the ground with Naruto running behind them towards the clone, ready to attack him when he prepared to block. At the last possible second Naruto attacked him, allowing the blades to curve around the target and towards the real one.

Zabuza's eyes widened before he twisted in a feat of acrobatics. Unfortunately by leaving himself in the air he was vulnerable to Sakura snagging his feet with her chakra while the clone popped into existence, throwing the knife.

With not other choice Kakashi was freed.

And the fight was really on.

* * *

_They might be bigger, but we're faster and never scared. – Taylor Swift, Change_


	8. Small Snowmen

**Vaughn Tyler: Seriously, it's so weird seeing your name. All I can think is 'is my old math teacher reading my fanfiction?'. **

**Queen of Oreo Awesomeness: FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT!**

**CeresMaria: You're very welcome!**

**ShugoYuuki123: I'm glad, I'm excite for it! **

**Sabie0521: Thank you! I was worried that it would be a bit boring to read, largely because everyone else always writes this out too. I try to keep things relatively brief. **

**Speaking of, this is a short chapter.**

* * *

With Zabuza's attention now firmly on Kakashi Sakura had time to pull the boys back and away from it, having them surround Tazuna while Naruto created a group of clones to spread out and keep an eye on things without someone risking their necks.

Sakura was amazed by Kakashi. She had seen the fight before, make no mistake, but up close and personal, right there where she could be ripped off her feet if the water dragons turned her way. It was absolutely breathtaking.

Her heart was pounding in her chest. It wasn't fear that sent it into overdrive, but excitement. She'd never been in a situation exactly like this. It had her ready to burst with the desire to be involved.

She resisted it, settling for watching Kakashi pummel Zabuza into a tree. She would be strong enough one day to hold her own in a fight like that. For now, though, she was still too young, too weak, to be of any good.

_Not the first time, is it?_

The girls jaw clenched at the thought before she got back to the fight. It was already almost over. Zabuza was slumped against a tree, bleeding from the shoulder. Kakashi's hand lit up with lightning and he shot forwards, preparing to plunge it into the body of the missing nin.

He was beat to the punch by three long, silver needle that punctured the mans thick neck.

The world seemed to slow from the rapid car crash that fights brought on, moving to a turtled crawl. Sakura's head turned towards where the needles had come from, as did those of her teammates and their client. From our of the tree dropped a boy, only a bit taller than the three of them. Brown hair was partially pulled back into a clothe, the rest falling into beads that ended at the shoulder. A mask obscured what Sakura knew to be a pretty face.

Haku.

"You were right," the boy addressed their teacher, "He did die."

Naruto, again, started chomping at the bit.

"Hey you!" he shoulder, "Who do you think you are?!"

The reply that came was smooth, the lie falling from lips like silk. "I am a hunter from Kirigakurw. I've been hunting Zabuza for quite some time. Now, I must dispose of this body and it's secrets."

Sakura watched him hoist the must larger adult up, onto his shoulder, and found herself nodding steadily. It was a good lie, smooth and impossible to disprove. It was also a perfectly solid plan.

"Alright," the others looked at Sakura, "Thank you for your help." She bowed respectfully, not overly deep but still there.

Haku returned the gesture. "It was my best chance. You have my thanks as well."

Without another word they vanished.

* * *

It was almost a week before Kakashi woke up again. Sakura would have tried to heal him, but she knew from experience that when one is injured they tend to be more likely to lash out on instinct, even if the intentions of the other party are to help. So they waited, staying around Tazuna when he went to the bridge and hanging around his house to help with Tsunami and Inari.

Sakura was still terrible with children. Inari was a brat.

They mixed as well as water and oil.

"Sakura."

The girl looked up from where she'd been sitting on the porch, finding Naruto and Sasuke standing over her. Tazuna was inside, so there was no need for them to be away with him.

"Ah?" she tilted her head, closing the anatomy book. She was almost done with it.

"Why weren't you scared when Zabuza was trying to kill us?" Naruto asked.

The girl paused before she shrugged. "I dunno. Maybe just because I almost died when I hit my head back then? I just thought that fear was useless, it wouldn't help anything, so I made it go away."

"Just like that?" Sasuke asked.

She nodded. "Just like that."

The boys exchanged looks and the girl resisted the urge to sigh. At least they were getting alone now.

* * *

_Men protect things they find important. If you object, you shouldn't have made yourself so irreplaceable. – Brandon Sanderson. _


	9. Exposition

**Update at last! Short though, so sorry.  
**

**Reviews;**

**Quantum Tesseract: I know how she can but she has no idea how she's going to make it work. Right now for Sakura it's all trial and error. Physics, as we have seen, can be mildly altered in that world, so that should help a little bit. **

**moon so bright: Ino is one of my favorite people so I had to make them close again. **

**Marie: Yes indeed, team bonding.**

* * *

It didn't take Sakura any time at all to master tree climbing. The same could not be said for the boys. While they struggled to walk up the bark she spent her time with their client, trailing after him through the town.

There was an incident between her and pick pocket that ended with a broken wrist and the most heartfelt apology she'd heard in years, more money than she thought it was worth spent on limp carrots and brown lettuce, and a confrontation between Inari and Naruto where she found herself agreeing with her teammate. The kid needed to grow up.

Unfortunately she couldn't really go and tell him that herself, seeing as according to the people here she had never lived through any major tragedy, only a sudden personality change via head trauma.

She could tell him about caves or carnivorous water, couldn't explain about forgetting so you could fight, couldn't make him understand that he would never have anything worthwhile if he didn't learn to love again and stop being a lemon sucking stick.

So she left it to her team and focused on the people of the town. They looked like she had, years and years ago, surviving by the means they had and forgetting what it meant to live. Their eyes were dull, no laughter floated in the air. They were beyond even the point of crying.

She remembered being there. She remembered it so well that, being surrounded by it, she almost fell back to that state. She could shut down more than fear. Maybe that was why it had been so easy for her to adjust, to find a purpose and move towards that. She had shut off her grief and panic. She focused on the possible love and camaraderie that was to be had.

Maybe it wasn't the healthiest reaction but it had served her well through the years. Eventually, when things had calmed down and she had actual time she would take time to think about and process everything, but for right then she was content to only let herself feel the good emotions.

Or the bad ones that pushed her to get better in this body.

It was a strange start, she figured, that this body had no conditionings. That the stress that had once rested in her spine, the unhealed scar tissue that had restricted her movements, the aches of the joints that had kept her awake in stormy nights, didn't exist. The ink that had marked her arms and shoulder would never again appear before her eyes. Her hands were delicate, soft, no scars crisscrossed the knuckles, no callouses roughed her fingertips.

It was surreal, really. More than the hair or the eyes, it was the small things that reminded her that she didn't belong.

Not that she ever felt unwelcome. No, Naruto and Sasuke, even Kakashi, never made her feel like that. Not all of them went out of their way to bring her into hanging out, but no one actively ditched her or turned their backs on her. Naruto especially was kind.

It was bad, she was getting very attached to him. Using him as an anchor. She knew it, she just couldn't find it in her to stop. He looked so happy being around her, it was heart breaking. When they got back to the village she made the promise to herself that she would make sure that he was okay. Always.

While contemplating her existence and waiting for the boys to finish their trainings Sakura worked on her own, and discovered something.

Chakra was energy.

Not that she didn't know that before, but the full truth hadn't weighed on her. The reason she couldn't make something slid was because energy was not solid. It could change forms, certainly, into an elemental affinity, a channel. It could not go from being energy to being steel, or from being heat to being stone.

The strings were lines of energy that connected two things, fading off into the world around.

Her problem, Sakura found, was that she had been trying to make that energy stay still. When she allowed it to stay flowing she discovered that it was much easier to mold into things other than simple strings. She hadn't gotten much far than small spheres or rings, but it was an improvement from where she had been before. Which was no where.

She had accepted that this body was not as strong as her old one, but it could get there, with time and work.

Work, she had cut out for her.

She could do it, but not alone.

The girls musings were cut off when the trees she had been walking through split, revealing the two boys laying under trees, both breathing heavily. Sakura brought an arm up, calling their names and holding up a basket of food Tsunami had sent with them.

Both of the boys looked up at her, variations of smiles appearing.

Not for the first time did she feel warm fondness sink into her chest.

It would be difficult. She would be fine.

* * *

_Our prime purpose in this life is to help others. And if you can't help them, at least don't hurt them. -Dalai Lama_


End file.
